Run Like the Dickens
by Rayner Fox
Summary: There were two people caught in the explosion that gave Barry Allen his powers. Him and his pregnant sister, but she didn't get any powers. So it's an utter surprise when his niece can suddenly break the sound barrier in her sneaker.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

* * *

><p>"Damn alarm clock," Erika Ericson wanted to mumble, but didn't. She never used profanity, well at least not that often. She rolled out of the bottom of the three bed bunk bed she shared with her sisters and staggered trying to regain her balance as she turned off her alarm clock.<p>

Erika was the eldest of four siblings. She had short strawberry blonde locks for hair, but she intended to get them cut in a more boyish fashion as soon as she could; blue eyes that were usually framed by a pair of purple glass; and a face that had just barely been freed from acne. She was sixteen years of age, and would rather be sleeping.

But what choice did she have if she wanted to catch the bus; she had to get up at five in the morning.

The house was quiet as she showered. No one was up at this time. That was also another reason she got up so early, to have time to herself - something she rarely got.

Once thoroughly cleaned, Erika heated up leftovers for breakfast and turned on the computer to entertain herself in the hour she had to herself.

As usual, she watched the news about superheroes; it was the most interesting thing to do then. Secretly, she longed to have a life full of adventure like those heroes, but Erika was stuck in rural America. She wondered why there weren't more female heroes.

By her count, there was Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Hawkgirl, Rocket, the female archer whose name she did not know yet, and probably a few others. Seriously, the male heroes severely outnumbered the females, why was that?

* * *

><p>Time slowly crawled on and eventually she checked her e-mail, which was rather consistent of late considering that hardly anyone ever used e-mail what with the invention of Facebook and all. So it was met with much delight when there was a new mesage in her in-box.<p>

Surprisingly, it was not from her friends in Colorado, but her Uncle Barry.

"_Hey Erika,_

"_Tell your folks we'll be there in time for dinner,_

"_Love, _

"_Uncle Bear." _

Erika face palmed herself, she'd nearly forgotten that her Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were coming to visit for her littler sisters' birthday. She had a lot on her plate, especially on this Friday morning. Today her school was hosting the Fine Arts Festival and, while she would not be performing, she would be assisting those performing back stage.

Slowly, she surveyed the living room after depositing her dishes in the kitchen sink, and she did not like what she saw.

_Mom's gonna blow a gasket when she sees this mess_, she thought. As per usual, the living room looked like a tornado had ripped through it, leaving a disaster area in it's wake. _Best see if I can't improve this a little._

* * *

><p>In what little time Erika had, she succeeded in lessening the pig sty that was the living room. If she had had more time, it could have been cleaned, but she didn't.<p>

Soon the house was alive with sleepy activity. Her only brother - Hayden - had gone to the showers, the eldest of her two younger sisters - Elizabeth - had gone to the restroom the evict the morning breath from her mouth, and Samantha - the youngest of the four siblings - was inquiring about the weather in order to determine what she was going to wear.

"You almost done in there, Liz?" Erika asked. She wanted to brush her teeth before heading out the door.

"Can't you wait?" responded Elizabeth in her usually morning grouchy mood.

"If I do that, I'm gonna be late," Erika snapped back.

"Just wait, _jeez_, you're so impatient," her sister replied.

* * *

><p>Once Erika had brushed her teeth and changed into a pair of skinny jean (well, at least by her definition they were skinny), she was ready to head out towards the bus stop, but just like always Erika was running a little - <em>no<em>, a lot – late.

"See you later," she called, closing the door behind her.

"Erika, did you take your pill?" her father called after her, but she was already headed for the bus stop, so she didn't hear him.

* * *

><p>Immediately upon arriving at school, Erika reported to the building that had both the auditorium and the gymnasium in it. The day had barely started for their small town school, but bands from all over the surrounding areas had already arrived.<p>

She signed in at the music room located between the gym and auditorium, and got the shirt that everyone who was in some way participating in the festival got.

"Erika," said Ms. Brady, the art teacher, "Ms. Rose is looking for you."

Before she knew exactly what was happening to everyone else, Erika found herself leading a group of students and their director to the back stage area to deposit their instruments.

And so began the most hectic day of Erika's life.

* * *

><p>By lunch time, Erika had built up what felt like an insatiable appetite.<p>

Unfortunately, the school lunch was incapable of satisfying the hunger she now felt, but she didn't have time to find anything else. She didn't want to miss a minute of the festival.

Though, she _was_ having a few problems, such as having trouble paying attention to everything and anything around her. The cause of this was her ADD was acting up. That only meant that she hadn't taken her pill that morning. The pill was meant to suppress her ADD to where it wouldn't be a problem, but without her medication she was going to have trouble.

_Oh well, skipping one day never hurt me before_, she thought to herself while jogging leisurely back to the auditorium. Unfortunately, she was dead wrong about her assumption this time.

* * *

><p>Erika let out a sigh of relief as she took her usual seat on the bus. She felt tired, more accurately she felt extremely hungry, but all the same she felt content and pleased with herself.<p>

She had done her job well and had been given instructions from her teacher to rest all weekend, and that was exactly what she intended to do.

The school day was done and the weekend was about to begin. She was going to relax, read, and enjoy her free time.

Well, she would be able to when the house was clean and when the dishes were done and when her mother deemed to house clean. In other words, she wasn't done yet. In fact, if she knew her mother's habits, Erika was far from done.

The living room, the kitchen, the computer room, the dining room, and every other room would probably need cleaning. If things were to go as they usually did, Erika would end up cleaning the mess by herself with very little help from her siblings.

* * *

><p>"Finally, it's done." Erika sighed as she plopped down on the couch with<em> The Lord of the Rings <em>in her hands.

The house had been cleaned in half the time it usually took, and surprisingly it was without much help from her sisters or brother. Mostly, her siblings had been hiding in their rooms from their general of a mother, who'd given them orders to clean.

The three of them would probably claim they were cleaning their rooms, well Hayden might claim he was practicing his French horn from what she had been hearing for part of the afternoon.

Though, the only claim that would be ligament would be Hayden's, from what she'd last seen of her room it was light-years away from being clean.

Samantha and Elizabeth were really just staring out the window, watching for their Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris's car. All three of her siblings were waiting impatiently for them to arrive.

Erika was impatient too, but not her relations to arrive. What she was waiting for was dinner.

She felt so hungry at the moment that she could hardly keep her focus on Frodo's conversation with Gandalf. Unfortunately, she couldn't eat anything until Barry and Iris arrived, and it felt like torture.

As it started to feel unbearable, Samantha and Elizabeth came charging out of their room and declared louder than _necessary_, "They're here! they're here!"

Not a moment later, Hayden joined into the fray and raced out the door. Slowly, Erika got up from the couch and followed the younglings out.

As should have been expected by Hayden, their black furred mutt - Dasha - was attempting to escape. Thankfully, their puppy - Ace - did not follow Dasha's example.

"Dasha, no!" Hayden said trying to stop the dog but to no avail. As soon as she got the chance, the dog was out the gate and sprinting as fast as she could.

Erika sighed. "I'll get her."

With that she took off sprinting. Within milliseconds, Erika had caught up with Dasha, but over shot her by a hundred miles, _literally_.

* * *

><p><em>No … way<em>, Erika thought, as the scenery she passed by at an impossible speed blurred together. _This couldn't be happening._

She was running, _actually_ running, and she wasn't feeling the usual pain in her calf muscles. Erika had never been able to run for a long time, she could only really sprint. She just couldn't keep up the speed it took to run. But now, much to her shock and surprise, she was running as fast as the Flash.

_Suddenly_, two things happened at once that forced her to stop, more or less. First, her purple glasses flew off her face. Without her glasses, anything at a distance of five feet away from her was a blur. She could still see the general shape of objects, but they looked fuzzy. Second, a tremendous hunger cramp formed in her stomach. Never in her life had she felt as hungry as she did then.

With her focus split between pain and trying to dodge blurry trees and other hazardous objects, Erika wasn't able to keep up her speed for long. But before she could come to a stop, or even get close to normal running speed, her body collided with a _very_ solid object and her mind went blank.

* * *

><p>When she came to her sense again, Erika found she was in a hospital bed with an I.V. in her arm, and near at hand she heard people talking in low voices. Where she was or who the people were Erika did not know.<p>

"What the heck happened?" Erika asked no one in particular.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

><p>"I win!" a triumphant Kid Flash yelled, raising the game controller over his head and a disgruntled Robin stared at the TV in disbelief. "Another round?"<p>

Wally was starting to get cocky, as usual. He had been beating Robin at _Mario Smash Brother's Brawl_ for the last hour. Well, really he'd been cheating by using his super speed, but sometimes he just couldn't control it. And unfortunately, the only other person whom he could play video games against and legally use his speed was the Flash. But his uncle wasn't there, so he had no one to compete with.

"You're using you speed," reasoned the bird boy.

"No I'm not," lied the speedster, despite the fact that he was using his speed.

"You _are_."

"_Are_ not."

"_Are_ too."

"_Are_ not."

Before their argument could get physical, they were interrupted by Wally's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"_Kid, I need your help it's an emergency_." It was his Uncle Barry, and he sounded ... _out_ of _breath_?

Wally was surprised by this request, not that he minded, though. It was just the last he'd heard Barry was supposed to visiting his sister in some small town in Arizona. Barry had been planning the vacation for months. He had even gotten an exemption from Watch Tower duties to go see his sister. _So_ what on earth could be the emergency?

"What's wrong, Uncle B?" In less than a second Wally had his uniform on and was at the Zeta-beam tubes.

_"EriKa's speed's manifested."_

"Huh?" Okay, Wally definitely did _not_ know what was going on. He had thought that the Trickster was attacking or something. But he had no clue who _Erika_ was.

_"Get to Colorado Springs ASAP and I'll explain more when you get there."_

_Okay, this day just got weirder than normal_, Wally thought as he did what his uncle told him to do.

* * *

><p><em>Yep, this day just went from normal weird to <em>extremely _weird_, Kid Flash thought as he listened to Flash fill him in on what had happened while they ran across the Continental Divide.

They were trying to find Erika Ericson, Wally's second cousin, whom he had met only once and that had _not_ been all that grand.

It had been at Iris's and Barry's wedding. The Fates had not been kind when they had seated Wally across from Erika. The fiasco had started when he had somehow angered her and she retaliated by flicking a forkful of cake at him. And so began an epic _food fight_.

By the end of it, they were both covered in cake and other fancy foods, and, probably just to spite him, Erika had licked her arm clean like a cat.

Both of them had been six years old at the time, so the only thing that Wally really remembered about her was that she _hated_ vegetables.

* * *

><p>Wally couldn't help but marvel at how Erika had managed to get to the Rookie Mountains from Arizona without stopping somewhere along the way, especially considering this was her first time running like the speedster she was. Which also begged the question, how could she <em>not<em> have known that she was a speedster in the first place?

Barry had yet to answer the multiple questions that he had. _Like_, why was she a speedster in the first place? And why hadn't he been told that there was another _teenaged_ speedster?

* * *

><p>It took them nearly two hours and thirty minutes to find Erika. She must have known the area pretty well to have gotten this far and not run into something. Well, she had run into something that was the reason she had stopped in the first place. But if his prior knowledge about first time speeding was anything to go on, she should have run into something along time ago if she hadn't known the area well.<p>

Barry muttered a string of uncharacteristic profanities when they found an unconscious, wounded, and _vibrating_ Erika. If those profanities were anything to go by, one thing was certain about the future: Barry's sister was going to skin him alive. And Wally could understand why.

Even though he hadn't seen Erika since Barry's wedding, he could tell that she looked nothing like she would normally.

Both of her eyes were black, she had many cuts and bruises along her face and forearm, because she had been wearing sandals - a definite _no _if you're a speedster and running - it would appear that she had suffered injuries from stepping on cactus, and she probably had other injuries that he couldn't spot.

Though, the most surprising thing about Erika was that even while she was unconscious she was vibrating.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Wally asked, he surprised himself with the amount of concern his voice held.

"I don't know," replied Barry. "But she needs medical attention. I don't think her body can survive the transition without help."

* * *

><p>The speedsters arrived at the Cave carrying the unconscious Erika.<p>

Besides the Cave, the only other place where Erika could be treated properly was the Watch Tower and Wally doubted that the Justice League would appreciate Flash taking a civilian up there, even if she was a speedster.

Neither did the residents of the Cave, but where else were they supposed to take a speedster whose powers just started to surface.

For an instant Kid Flash and Flash got questioning glances from those assembled in the mission room for combat training from Black Canary. But that was only for an instant, because as soon as the two speedsters materialized from the Zeta–beams they took off towards the medical bay.

Well, actually Flash blurred towards the medical bay leaving Wally in the spot light.

"Who's Erika Ericson?" Megan questioned.

_Darn it,_ Wally thought. He realized that there was no way of avoiding explaining what little he understood about what was happening to his teammates because the computer had announced the trio's arrival.

"Ummmm, she's my second cousin," he supplied.

"Why did Flash bring her here?" asked Black Canary.

"She's a speedster," he answered with a shrug, "and she's hurt."

"A speedster?"

"How can that be?"

"Bat's _not_ gonna like this."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

><p>Batman was the <em>least<em> of Barry's worries at the moment as he dialed his sister's phone number.

Not only had his sister - Mariah - been extremely surprised when she witnessed Erika took off like a speedster, she'd been livid with anger. He'd once told her that Erika would never have powers, just so long as she took the pills everyday or, at least, if she didn't take them, she should avoid excess running.

The ADD had been a side-effect of the speed, a warning sign that she could be a speedster, and they had been able to stop the powers from developing due to their diagnosis of what seemed to be a disability.

But now … now his niece was _vibrating_ and it was all his fault. He'd been the one to talk Mariah into helping him at the lab that stormy night when lightning had struck that shelf of chemicals.

* * *

><p><em>"Barry?"<em> Mariah asked over the phone in a tone that was somewhere between worried to death _and_ a growl. _"Did you find her?"_

"Yeah," Barry almost impishly answered.

_"Is she alright?"_

"Depends on your definition of _'alright'_."

"_Barry, how badly is she hurt?_"

"Well … she's unconscious. I'm guessing a sprained ankle, and an odd assortment of bumps and bruises. She stepped in cactus. Plus she lost her glasses somewhere along her run," Barry supplied, putting Erika's injuries mildly. "She's probably in extreme need of nutrients."

"_Where are you? I want to see Erika_," demanded Mariah, and Barry groaned. He knew that Mariah wouldn't be permitted into Mount Justice. _Heck_, Barry would be lucky if the League was understanding of this situation.

"Um, sorry, _but_ she's at a Justice League base and I doubt that the League will take kindly to me bringing Erika here, let alone you," Barry answered.

"_Fine_," his sister snapped at him, "_but you had better keep us posted on how she's doing._"

* * *

><p>Erika's injuries turned out to be slightly less extensive that Barry had guessed. There was, of course, some bumps and bruises, but they healed swiftly as Erika's body accelerated. Thankfully, nothing was fractured. The sprained ankle and the foot that had had the cactus stuck in it would remain for some time, but he supposed that with Erika's body changing quickly they would be gone before the month was out.<p>

Within a few hours of arriving at the Cave, Erika stopped vibrating. The transition from normal to speedster was almost complete. Sometime soon Erika would be waking up and she would probably want an explanation. Not to mention, she would probably be pretty upset and scared.

In the meantime though, some _other_ people wanted an explanation.

* * *

><p>"Why is she a speedster?" the Batman demanded, sending Barry a withering glare.<p>

Upon hearing that the Flash had brought his niece to the Cave due to injuries she had received during her first speeding, a small number of Leaguers had assembled in the Cave's medical bay seeking the same thing: an explanation.

So Barry was obliged to tell in full what happened the night that he had received his powers. He told them of how he had talked his sister into going to the forensics lab in order to help him despite the fact that she was six months pregnant.

Though Mariah hadn't received any powers from the explosion, they both suspected that the unborn child may develop powers over time. Mariah and her husband - Ray - had taken Barry's advice to look for any signs of super speed. When they noted Erika's ADD at age eleven they had been able to design a medication that would prevent Erica's speed from developing.

Mariah had even moved her family to a small town in Arizona in order to keep Erika somewhat anonymous if the pills only stalled her powers.

"Why didn't you tell us that there was a possibility of there being another speedster?" questioned Batman.

"Because when she started taking the pills there seemed to be no sign of Erika getting super speed," replied Barry.

Bats was about to ask another question when Erika mumbled, "What the heck happened?"

Good, Erika was awake and now he had to explain to her what she was and why.

Batman and the other Leaguers exited the medical bay, giving Barry some privacy for a very complicated conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

><p><em>Suddenly<em>, Erika knew how Mia from _Princess Dairies _felt when she'd been told that she was a princess. Except Erika couldn't turn away from what she was: a _speedster_.

She listened to Barry with rapt attention, soaking in everything he had to say. A tight knot of fear and confusion began to tie itself even tighter in her stomach.

The day had started out absolutely normal, with Erika longing for a super power so she could be a hero, but now … now she didn't know _what_ she wanted.

Her uncle was the Flash and her second cousin whom she had gotten into a food fight with (though she didn't remember it) was Kid Flash. That alone was a _lot_ to process, so let's top it off with finding out that she was a _speedster_ as well.

When she thought about it, she would take being told that she was a princess over _this_; even if it meant wearing _loathsome_ dresses and acting proper. At the least, it would be better than being told she'd been a meta-human all her life and she hadn't even known it. Not to mention, being a princess was something she could have turned down, but being a speedster - a meta-human - was something she could _not_ turn down.

"You okay?" Barry asked, and Erika found that question a little redundant. Of course she was _not_ okay. She had just been told that her uncle was the Flash, which she still didn't believe even with his cowl off and his face as clear as it could be when she was without her glasses. To say that Erika was shocked at this recent development could have qualified as the _understatement_ of the _year_.

"No, not really," Erika replied honestly, pulling her knees to her chest. How she longed for her glasses as she squinted around the room, her vision was extremely blurry and she couldn't make out even nearby objects in great detail. The only thing really assuring her that her uncle and the Flash was the same person was the sound of his voice.

Barry nodded in understanding. "You feel hungry, don't you?"

Surprisingly, Erika did feel hungry, really hungry. She nodded eagerly at Barry's offer and her uncle was off in literally a flash, leaving Erika alone with her thoughts.

_This_ cannot _be happening_,she thought, desperately hoping that she was just experiencing a pre-dawn dream that had taken a weird turn. But, somewhere deep down inside her, Erika knew that this was reality, that _this_ was real.

She knew that she was indeed a speedster. She knew that she was actually in a Justice League facility called Mount Justice, (where exactly Mount Justice was she didn't know and really didn't care at the moment.) Somewhere, deep inside her, Erika knew that this was reality and that she _desperately_ needed her spare pair of glasses.

* * *

><p>Erika stared at the ceiling in boredom. She knew she <em>ought<em> to be asleep, but she just couldn't.

The Cave (the informal name of Mount Justice) had some programming that turned its lights out at a designated bed time or something. Erika's internal clock didn't harmonize with this programming; it was still on Mountain Time, so instead she lay on the bed doing nothing.

She had been at the Cave for days, possible a week, Erika couldn't tell. Barry had moved her from the medical area of the Cave to an unoccupied room. He'd told her that this would be her room, for how long she didn't know.

With a deep sigh, Erika rolled onto her side and pulled the light switch for the lamp on the nightstand. She squinted at the many books that her family had sent her, plus the few she requested, and chose _The Tale of Despereaux_.

To pass the time she had been confined to her bed, Erika had been reading anything she could get her hands on. She read books that she'd never before opened, or that her mother had read to her, or that she had read before and wanted to read again.

Erika had trouble adjusting to her new power, but speed reading felt a lot like regular reading. Somehow she was able to slow down just enough so that the words didn't blend together. Though she read books clearly, she had noted that she was reading faster than she did when she wasn't a speedster.

At the moment, Erika was overhearing the Mouse Council sending Despereaux to the dungeons of the castle. She was told that the little mouse would have to be brave, very brave. Despite knowing how the book ended in the triumph of the smallest mouse, Erika found herself enthralled in the story again as if she were a nine year old.

She found the ending a little _too_ quickly for her tastes. Squinting over at the digital alarm clock by the lamp, and it declared that she'd been up too late or at least by the time wherever she was.

Erika set the book down again on the stack of other fairytales and adventures with a yawn; well her internal clock was finally in some form of agreement with the clock. Her body finally wanted to go to bed.

* * *

><p>It felt like months since Erika had seen the sun, that was something that she hated. Sitting in a bed, in a room that she wasn't allowed to leave was getting to her, whether the confinement was an actual rule or just something that Erika had yet to get the courage to do, she was about to find out.<p>

Her wounds had closed, possibly had fully healed by this time, but she hadn't been out of her room since moving from the medical bay to the room.

Erika slipped out of bed and her feet came in contact with a floor as cold as stone. Probably was too, despite that it appeared to be tile.

She grimaced slightly finding that her injuries were still somewhat there. Though her right ankle still hadn't fully recovered from the sprain, Erika could not let that stop her from getting up. She grabbed her spare pair of purple glasses from the night stand and pushed then onto her nose.

Erika didn't know exactly where she was going, but it was time to explore. She hadn't seen many people during her stay at the Cave, so she assumed that there were very few people here. She _could_ be the only one in the base.

The door to her room slid opened automatically for her as she tiptoed out of the room. Cautiously, she maneuvered through the maze of corridors, trying to figure out where she was going.

She was tempted to start running, but the temptation was not great enough to overcome her fear of what could happen. Erika had become accustomed to her brain working at unattainable speeds thanks to all the reading she'd done, but she just didn't want to test her physical abilities yet, at least not without someone else there to help.

So as slowly as she could Erika crept through the Cave going hither and thither, trying to learn the layout of the place. Erika had found many bedrooms much like hers though most were unoccupied but a few looked lived in; she'd found a room with many shelves most had nothing on them but the top most had an odd collection of stuff, such as three masks all of different styles, an eyeball, a mechanical arm, a weird metallic stone-like object, a piece of cloth, a videotape, and many other interesting things; _and_ much to her delight a library with shelves full of books.

_I didn't know the League collected books_, she mused scanning the titles. Most were aimed at adult readers, but there seemed to be a good mixture of both young adult fiction and teen fiction. Unfortunately, the fiction collection was in short supply.

_Figures._ She shrugged. _Heroes would need more non-fiction stuff than fiction._

Erika would have enjoyed spending hours in the small library, but the impulse to explore was far greater than her desire to read. She made a mental note to come back later as she exited the learned atmosphere.

Not long after finding the library, Erika stumbled into the kitchen. The area was neat and looked as if it had been used recently, because there were still unwashed dishes in the sink.

Adjacent to the kitchen was a very up-to-date living room. Erika stared at the big screen T.V. for a moment wondering if it had a satellite connection. When she'd moved to Arizona her mother had decided that no satellite connection improved grades and it did, but that hadn't stopped Erika from desiring it.

A broad smile appeared on her face as she inspected the video game console and the extensive collection of games.

_Wonder who stays here?_ she thought before moving on.

She stuck her head into a serene room. It had comfy chairs and a running fountain in one corner. Erika decided _against_ venturing into the room further because in such a neat, peaceful setting she knew that she was bound to disturb something.

Closing the door softly, Erika noted that down the hall she could hear someone. It sounded like the speaker was giving a lecture on something.

Curiosity triumphed over caution because instead of heading back to her room, Erika slowly moved towards the noises.

She wondered if this was how Bilbo felt when venturing into the Lonely Mountain towards Smaug's den. Staying well within the hallway, Erika peered into a spacious, rotunda-like room.

Her eyes grew as wide as her glasses when she saw _who_ was in the room.

Decked out in full costume were heroes whom she'd only seen on T.V. Black Canary, Rocket, Aqualad, the female archer, and many others whom she had yet to learn their name. Among them was her second cousin, Kid Flash.

"Do _any_ of you know where Robin is?" Black Canary asked the young heroes. None of them seemed to know where the Boy Wonder was and they also hadn't noticed Erika yet.

Erika decided that it was time she head back to her room, interrupting hero lessons or whatever was going on was probably not the best way to get acquainted with them.

Slowly, she back pedaled, but at about her third step a disembodied voice asked, "What are you doing out of bed?"

Erika yelped in surprise and spun on her heals to see who was addressing her.

"What's going on?" asked someone from behind her, undoubtedly one of the heroes she had seen in the room, but Erika didn't really care.

It mattered not if they discovered her; she'd already been caught by a hero: Robin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

><p>The day had definitely been weirder than normal for Wally. He'd just found out that even before he'd become Kid Flash, there'd been a speedster his age. That neither of the youngest speedsters had known about it.<p>

Wally had just gotten back from Dry Creek, Arizona – the town where Erika's family lived – and had nearly been killed by the amount of questions the Ericson's had asked. The three other second cousins he had pummeled him with questions after question.

He felt lucky that Iris had been there or else Wally wouldn't have known what he'd have done. Hayden – a kid about Robins' age – had been especially angry that Wally hadn't known Erika's condition; Elizabeth and Samantha – twin sisters – had wanted to know if Erika was going to be a superhero; and Erika's parents had wanted to know if she was conscious.

After a rather lengthy Q and A session, Wally had finally been able to get what he'd been sent for: Erika's glasses. Barry had sent him to retrieve Erika's spare pair when she'd regain consciousness.

Along with the eye wear, her family gave him a knapsack full of books. When they were told that she was going to be staying at the Cave for a while, they'd gathered the essentials for keeping Erika entertained.

Once he Zeta-ed from Flagstaff to the Cave, Wally zipped to the medical bay.

"Hey, Uncle Barry," he called as he entered the mini hospital but stopped short.

Barry wasn't there surprisingly, but that wasn't why he'd, for once in his life, shut himself up.

Erika lay on the hospital style bed fast asleep, with three or four empty food trays on the comforter beside her.

Quietly, Wally exchanged the trays for the knapsack and carefully set her purple glass on the medical case that was beside her bed. She'd find them when she woke, so there was no need to disturb her.

* * *

><p>Wally arrived at the Cave after having finished his homework.<p>

Everything had returned to the normal routine after a few days.

He had expected Megan to be cooing over his injured second cousin, he'd expected everyone to have some interest in Erika, but Batman had given strict instructions not to disturb her until she was fully recovered.

* * *

><p>"What kind of cookies do you think Erika likes?" the Martian questioned Wally when he arrived at the kitchen for a snack.<p>

"Don't know," Wally replied taking some of his junk food out of cupboard.

"Okay then, kind of meals would she like?"

"I wouldn't know," answered the speedster stuffing his face.

"Do you know _anything_ about her?" Artemis bluntly asked.

"No, except that she doesn't like vegetables."

This answer only got Wally questioning looks from his teammates.

* * *

><p>At the end two and a half weeks, Wally was beginning to wonder why Erika hadn't left the Cave yet. Though her speed and metabolism were new, her body ought to have healed by now. She was a speedster after all.<p>

Though he also wondered why they hadn't seen her out of her room. Wally knew from experience that speedsters loathed being cooped up. So it was kind of odd that Erica hadn't ventured out of her room.

Then there was one other question on his mind, why wasn't she out of her room and using her new found speed? When he had acquired his speed, Wally was all over the place. Bouncing off walls, zooming all over Central City, and testing his limitations, but Erika hadn't done any of these things, she'd just stay in her room doing something or other to keep from going stir crazy.

He couldn't help but think if there was something else stopping her from leaving her room.

* * *

><p>Erika looked like she'd been caught between a rock and a hard place when Robin had announced her presence. She looked as if someone had told her not to leave her room or something.<p>

"Is there something you need?" Black Canary questioned Erika.

"Um, no, I … just got bored," replied the female speedster, turning around to look shyly at the team.

* * *

><p>Erika was allowed to stay and watch the combat training lesson and she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. She was leaning against the wall off to one side with a content grin on her face.<p>

Wally, on the other hand, was not content nor was he enjoying anything.

The floor light up and computerized voice declared his failure yet again. Artemis had whopped his butt for the third time in a row.

"Alright, that's enough for today," Black Canary announced as Artemis helped him off the floor with a triumphant smile on her lips.

"That went well," Wally groaned, rubbing a bruise that was forming as quickly as it was healing.

Erika stayed were she was at unsure of what to do next as the team began to wander towards the kitchen. She still looked a little frightened about something.

Wally hesitated before he made any move to zoom towards the kitchen. Erika hadn't moved and didn't seem intent on going anywhere but back to her room unless she was invited.

"You coming?" he called across the Mission room to his second cousin.

"Um." She glanced off in the direction of her room and then in his direction, undecided on her course of action.

"Miss M made brownies," he offered with a smile.

Erika's eyes lite up, apparently her stomach had decided for her.

She jogged across the room; well at least a speedster _would_ call it jogging. She crossed the room in a matter of seconds, but just as she reached the corridor, she managed to somehow trip over her feet.

Besides sliding a few feet because of her momentum, Erika's glasses flew off her face.

"Not _again_," she grumbled as she picked herself up. Wally grabbed her glasses of the floor from where they had landed, luckily they weren't damaged.

"Here," he said, handing them to her. "You wouldn't want to lose these."

She nodded thanks, and slipped the eye wear back on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

><p>It had been much to her surprise when Wally had introduced her to his friends. Though they were heroes, they acted just like a regular person Erika would meet at Youth Group. Also, they'd told her their secret identity right away, (well most of them.)<p>

Erika had never been an expert in the field of socializing, but she seemed to be doing just fine at present.

* * *

><p>"These brownies are great," Erika complimented as she grabbed yet another brownie from the pan. The taste of chocolate in her mouth never felt better, especially after about a month of no sweets.<p>

"So what kind of cookies do you prefer?" asked Megan.

Erika didn't have to think long to answer that question. "I like chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookie, peanut butter cookie, M&M cookies, and Animal Frosting Cookies."

"So you pretty much like every kind of cookie?" Robin clarified.

"Yeah, pretty much, expect for Snickerdoodles."

"You don't like _Snickerdoodles_?" asked Wally flabbergasted.

"Yeah, and I don't like cinnamon rolls either."

"So, how exactly are you related to Wally?" asked Artemis. Erika had been so happy when she'd _finally_ found out the name of the female archer. Partly because she really like that there was another girl hero and because she was a fan of archery.

"I think the only relation I have to Wally is 'cause his aunt married my uncle," Erika replied.

"That explains the family resemblance," she answered.

"_What_ resemblance?" the two speedsters asked simultaneously.

* * *

><p>After a month of being cooped up in a room, Erika greatly appreciated social interaction, even if she felt rather awkward and humbled around the heroes.<p>

The team didn't seem to mind her, though, no matter how many times she stuttered or tripped over her own feet.

Talking with Wally actually wasn't that hard most of the time. Conversing with him really gave her some insight about her speed.

He explained some side effects of being a speedster that Erika hadn't yet gotten full comprehension of, such as the reason for her endless appetite.

* * *

><p>"You're going to have to do something about your glasses," Wally observed as he helped Erika back to her feet yet again while handing her glasses to her.<p>

"I know," she replied. She'd known this for quite a while. Erika had come to that conclusion after her first speeding.

Her glasses kept falling off and she kept running into things when she couldn't see. She had an idea of how to solve her problem, but the object required to fix it was at home in Arizona.

* * *

><p>The team had gone off on a mission, leaving Erika alone with only a robot and a Kobra Venom enhanced wolf.<p>

Though she didn't mind being left alone, exactly. The library had many interesting books on hand and she enjoyed playing with Wolf, that is when he felt like playing.

Wolf, though, seemed just fine with sitting at her feet while she read the Cave's copy of _Red Wall _and the first few books in _The Ranger's Apprentice _series.

She could hear the lazy snores of Wolf as she witnessed Matthias slay the evil adder, Asmodeus. Erika couldn't put the book down as it came to its climax, so she didn't notice that someone else enter the room.

* * *

><p>"Erika? … Erika."<p>

Erika yelped in surprise as she was forced back into reality.

"My book was just getting to the _best_ _part_!" she complained before she looked up and saw the speaker. "_Uncle Barry_!"

"Erika, how are you doing?" asked her uncle as she hugged him.

He was in uniform, but he had his cowl off. Erika hadn't seen him since he'd moved her to a spare room.

"I'm fine, but what are you doing?" she questioned.

"I hear that you're all better, so it's time to take you home."

* * *

><p><em>I'm<em> never _going to get used to _that, Erika thought as she felt her molecules re-materialized in Flagstaff.

It was the oddest sensation that she'd ever felt. Being Zeta-ed across the country was weird.

"Ready?" Barry asked her. Erika nervously took off her glasses and put them in their case before nodding to her uncle.

Her stomach did a flip as Barry picked her up fireman style and took off running. Barry had offered to teach her how to run, but Erika had turned him down.

She still had to fix the problem with her glasses before she again tired to run.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before they reached her home in Dry Creek.<p>

Happily, she breathed in the dry air. She felt relieved to be back in the arid steppe climate she'd lived in for a good portion of her life.

The familiar sight of red and orange sandstone mesas put a smile on her face. It was _good_ to be home.

* * *

><p>"<em>E<em>! You're back, you're back," cried her siblings as she entered her home with wobbly legs.

Elizabeth and Samantha nearly tackled her when they ran and embraced her. There was a joyous light in their eyes.

"It's good to see you, sis," Hayden greeted her with a knuckle bump.

"It's good to see you too, Slow Bro," she teased her only brother.

"Erika! Erika!" Samantha eagerly said, trying to get Erika's attention.

"What is it, Samantha?"

"E, are you gonna be a superhero? Are you gonna be _Velocity_?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

><p>Barry stared at the ceiling as he lay on the Ericson's couch bed. Tonight he couldn't sleep. His thoughts would not let him.<p>

It'd a week since he'd taken Erika to the Cave to treat her for the injuries she'd received during her first speeding. It'd been a week since his niece became a speedster and a very hectic one at that.

He'd just gotten back from a League meeting and of course one of their topics had been Erika. The League understood his reasons for keeping Erika's then potential meta-human powers a secret, that hadn't been that reason Batman had brought the topic up. The problem was what would be done about her new powers.

_Of course_, Barry would train Erika to use her speed both properly and wisely. But teach her to be a hero ... well let's just say that his sister had other thoughts on what Erika should do and once Mariah's mind was made up, it's _very_ hard to change.

Most of the League, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl especially, wanted Erika to join the team. Barry agreed that it would be one of the best ways of training and mentoring Erika, but he knew that he'd be lucky if Mariah even let him near Erika again.

Thoughts and ideas flew through Barry's head like a hurricane. He was brainstorming, wondering about how he should help Erika.

He supposed that he could train Erika as he did Wally and teach her what Jay taught him. Undoubtedly, as soon as Erika was better she would need training.

"What'cha you thinking about?" Iris asked her voice thick with sleep.

Barry sighed, this was normal. When his mind was going one thousand miles an hour while his body wanted rest, somehow or other, Iris knew when his mind was zooming all over the place.

"Is it Erika?"

Barry nodded. "She's a speedster now."

"So?" she prompted.

"The League wants her to join the team."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not exactly, Mariah won't like it and Erika … I just don't know." Barry sighed. "She's going to need more than the team if she's going to understand her powers."

"Barry, what are you saying?" Iris questioned with _That_ tone in her voice. _That_ tone usually meant she was questioning his sanity, or that his idea was something that couldn't be done. It was the same tone she'd used when asking him why he agreed to let Wally be Kid Flash.

"What if Erika came to stay with us? … It'd just be a for a couple of months, just until she can control her powers enough to be able to run across the country without getting herself killed." Barry received the _Look_ from Iris. That usually meant, "_I love you but you're kind of crazy for thinking that_."

"You're not thinking of taking another sidekick?"

"Why not? If it improves Erika's ability to control her power, I'm all for it," Barry said quietly, regaining in his voice so he wouldn't wake his sister's family.

"You already have your hands full with Wally and I doubt Mariah will approve. Besides how would be able to care for her? Two speedsters in one house would eat themselves out of house and home in a couple of days," she reasoned, but Barry only gave her a reassuring smile.

"We'd make it work somehow, and it would also be good practice if we ever had kids."

* * *

><p>"Is E gonna be a <em>superhero<em>?"

Since Barry had been unofficially assigned to keep his nieces and nephew in line while Iris discussed the issues of dealing with a speedster with Ray and Mariah, he had to endure anything that they asked him and _that_ was the one question that Samantha would _not_ quit asking him. It was also the one that he didn't have an answer for, because he really didn't know.

Mariah was, _of course_, against it, Ray – Barry's brother-in-law – didn't see why Erika shouldn't be a hero, and Barry had resigned to the idea that it should be Erika's choice. If Erika wanted to she could become a superhero, but that was her decision.

"Well, if she is she's gonna to have to have a superhero name," Barry deflected. He'd gotten tired of telling his niece "I don't know," so he decided to change the topic.

Samantha thought for a moment, as did her siblings. This had sparked the interest of all his relations.

"What about _Flash-Girl_?" offered Samantha.

"Nah, that doesn't sound like Erika," Elizabeth said. "_Flashette_ is more of an Erika-ism."

"Now that just sounds _weird_," Hayden interjected, looking up from his science homework.

"Okay then, what about _Speedy_?"

"That's already taken," argued Hayden.

"If you don't like _my_ ideas, why don't you come up with something _yourself_, mister," his hot tempered niece sassed at her older brother.

"What about _Rush_, or _Dash_?" interrupted Samantha.

"Too boy-ish to fit Erika," replied her sister. "What about _Marathon_?"

For the next fifteen minutes or so, Samantha and Elizabeth bounced possible names back and forth. Hayden now and again said something, but mostly focused on his homework. Barry just watched with a slight look of amusement as his two nieces brainstormed.

Their idea tornado eventually turned into a dust devil and then into just a breeze, even after the list of names the twins had compiled they couldn't pick one they thought would fit Erika.

"I give _up_, none of them fit E," Elizabeth cried over dramatically.

"I don't know, _Flash-Girl_ has a nice ring to it," Samantha thought aloud.

"_Velocity_," Hayden interrupted. He'd been quit for some time and the girls completely ignored him most of the time. This time, however, Hayden had the attention of both his sisters and Barry.

"It's the scientific term for speed," he elaborated for his siblings.

"Hayden, you're a _genius_," Elizabeth said with the over dramatic tone resonating in her voice.

"That sounds like something Erika would come up with," nodded Samantha.

Unofficially, it was settled. If Erika were to be superhero, she'd be called _Velocity_.

* * *

><p>Barry was babysitting his nieces and nephew again while Iris, Mariah, and Ray went to the nearest Wal-Mart and Sam's Club to stock up on the foods they'd need to keep a growing speedster healthy.<p>

After some instruction from Wally's mother – Marry – and some tips from Iris, Mariah decided that it'd be best to stock up now during Erika's absence. They would need a full pantry to feed Erika. That is if Barry couldn't convince his sister to let Iris and he take care of Erika. Mariah was totally against Erika becoming a hero, but she just might need it.

She would need to learn how to harness her powers, but it would be difficult for her to do it on her own. He could teach her just like he had taught Wally and Jay had taught him.

How Jay had managed to understand his abilities on his own, Barry would never know and he didn't want Erika to find out.

* * *

><p>"Get the Evil Librarian!" yelled Elizabeth as she and Hayden dueled a Lego version of Ventress. Why they on earth they said that, Barry didn't know.<p>

The tag team was playing _Lego Star Wars_ with the volume so loud that he almost didn't hear his comm. link.

"Hello?" he said while plugging one ear.

"_Flash_," said Black Canary on the other end. "_Your niece seems to be alright_."

"What?"

"_She's out of her room and walking_."

"Okay," he answered and that was the end of their conversation.

_Guess it's time to bring Erika home, _he thought

* * *

><p>Barry arrived at the Cave a few days later while the team was on a mission.<p>

Erika seemed to have settled in and had made herself comfortable in the library with Superboy's pet wolf at her feet. Honestly, Barry was glad that Erika and the team got along well, _but_ he would have appreciated it if the tame predator didn't get attached to her.

Apparently, Erika had inherited her mother's love of literature, because Barry was able to sneak up on her just as easily as he'd been able to with Mariah when they were kids.

"Erika …," he said attempting to get her attention but to no avail. "Erika."

"My book was just getting to the best part." _Yep_, Erika had definitely gotten her mother's affinity for reading. "_Uncle Barry_!"

"Erika, how are you doing?" Barry questioned as he received a strong hug from his niece.

"I'm fine, but what are you doing here?"

"I hear that you're all better, so it's time to take you home."

* * *

><p>Barry received a glare from Mariah when Samantha asked Erika if she was going to be a hero known as <em>Velocity<em>. He should have expected Erika's siblings to ask something like that, _especially_ the twins, who liked the idea of their sister being a meta-human.

Erika had the look of a deer caught in headlights when Samantha asked that and Barry had to ask himself again if Erika _wanted_ to be a hero.

She'd refused his offer to give her a lesson on speeding when they'd Zeta-ed to Flagstaff and now this.

Then again maybe she did want to be a hero because her answer to Samantha's question was:

"Maybe, as soon as I find my Chums, though."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

><p>The team arrived at the Cave, exhausted from the mission. Wally not only felt exhausted, but hungry. And the only way to ward off his worst enemy was by raiding the kitchen, which was oddly still intact considering that they'd left a speedster … alone in the Cave.<p>

Actually, when Wally thought about it, there probably shouldn't be as much food as there was in the kitchen with Erika around.

"Hey, guys, where's Erika?" he asked after zipping to Erika's room, the library, and anywhere else that she usually hung out at and she was nowhere to found.

"Maybe she went home." Robin shrugged. "She was feeling better."

Wally felt kind of disappointed that Erika had gone home; it was nice to have a fellow speedster to talk to.

* * *

><p>A few days after Erika had gone home, Wally sat in front of the entertainment center, playing <em>Mario Smash Brothers Brawl <em>alone and, as per usual, he was getting bored.

Robin was off investigating something with Batman in Gotham. Artemis was at target practice in a crabby mood. Raquel and Zatanna were doing girly things in Zatanna's room. Megan and Connor were on a date in Happy Harbor.

He'd hoped that he'd that he'd been able to play video games against Erika after she'd gotten comfortable being around the team, but she was back home in Arizona.

"This is _boring_," he groaned after another five minutes of playing. "_I wish there was something to do_."

As if to grant his wish, Wally's cell phone rang. Looking at it, he saw that the caller I.D. read Barry Allen.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, kid, I need your help_," Barry said.

"Sure, what do you need?" Wally asked, this time trying to get more information about the situation beforehand.

"_Mariah needs more encouragement before she lets Erika join the team._"

* * *

><p>Kid Flash arrived at the Ericson household as late evening arrived. Much to his surprise, Flash was not the only Leaguer there. Robin and Batman were at the Ericson's.<p>

The only reason Wally knew this was 'cause Robin was sitting on the Ericson's concrete porch, petting their two dogs.

"_Uh_ … Rob, what are you doing here?" he asked his best friend.

"Trying to convince Mrs. Ericson to let Erika join the team," Robin replied.

"How's that going?"

From inside they heard, "_No_, I will not permit my daughter to join my brother on his escapade."

"Not very well."

"Maybe you should let Erika decide that," Batman intoned.

Both Wally and Robin turned around and peered in through the screen door.

"Guys, no!" Erika yelled before stumbling onto the front room.

Wally couldn't help but notice that Erika had almost an identical look as she'd had in the Cave when Robin had found her wondering.

"I'm not the only one up," she said sheepishly. "You're kind of loud, Mom."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

><p>"Um, maybe as soon as I find my Chums, though," Erika managed to stumble over her own words as she answered Samantha question awkwardly. Recently she hadn't actually thought about becoming a hero. All she wanted was to control her speed, but maybe becoming a hero was just the answer to her problem.<p>

At least this question meant that her siblings were okay with her being a meta-human. One of her concerns had been how her family – namely her brother and sisters – were taking to these changes, but it was all for not. Apparently, they were thrilled with Erika being a speedster.

"Hey, I'm _so_ _sorry_ for missing you guy's birthday," Erika said, suddenly remembering that her speeding had upset that balance. "I wish I'd remembered to get you something."

"That's okay, E, you didn't have to," Elizabeth told her.

"Yeah, E, you're already the best birthday present _ever_," Samantha responded giving Erika another hug.

"_Uh_, thanks … I think."

_Yep_, her siblings definitely liked Erika being a meta-human.

* * *

><p>After a few quick words with Hayden, Erika's mom broke up the short lived reunion and sat the speedster down on the couch once she'd shooed the youngling to their rooms.<p>

Erika had a sinking feeling in her stomach, the feeling reminded her of the time her mom had laid down the rules of what she could or could not do with the mountain bike her dad had given her for her last birthday. A knot of anticipation and fear slowly formed, drowning out the happiness of her siblings' approval and encouragement.

* * *

><p>Her suspicions were confirmed when her mother walked in and started talking.<p>

"Erika, you're a speedster now, and because of this you will have to follow these rules…"

Erika's eyes grew wider than her glasses as her mother went over a lengthy list of rules that she'd had to have brainstormed during Erika's absence because of their numbers and diversity.

For the most part they dealt with using her powers and how or when she used them. Some of them were things that Erika's common sense wouldn't let her do like speeding in the house or using her powers while riding bikes, skateboards, and other such vehicles.

Right after never running while at school or during school sponsored events, things started getting _outlandish_. Rules such as '_don't use your speed when a super villain is attacking_' started appearing.

* * *

><p>"So, in general you don't want me to use my powers period?" Erika sullenly asked once her mother was finished. A shameful feeling swelled within her. It was almost as if she had done something wrong when she'd become a speedster.<p>

"Erika, _honey_, it's for your own safety," her mom said in a comforting tone.

"_Yeah_, I hear _you_." She sighed dejectedly before slowly walking to her room.

* * *

><p>Erika let a sigh of content escape her lips as she entered her room. Though she was still discouraged because of all the new rules she had to follow, she was happy to be home.<p>

Samantha and Elizabeth had been playing with their Zhu-Zhu pets when she'd walked in, but they quickly turned their attention back to Erika.

The twins began bombarding and generally pestering her with questions about where she'd been, whom she'd met, and what the people whom she'd met were like.

* * *

><p>"So, are you going to be a superhero, like Uncle Barry and Kid Flash?" Samantha asked towards the end of their Q and A session.<p>

Erika stared at the bunk above her own as she lay in her bed, mulling over all her possible responses. She didn't want to tell them flat out no and diminish their hopes, but she wasn't sure about what to say as an alternative.

"Are you going to be a superhero, E?" Elizabeth asked, apparently she'd paused for too long.

Erika made a nanosecond decision and replied, "Maybe, but we'll have to wait and see."

"Well, if you are, Erika, we found these for you." Elizabeth carefully handed Erika her Chums.

"_Uh_, _thanks_," she fumbled over her word as she held it. For some reason she felt all the more guilty for not telling the twins that she was all but forbidden from using her powers.

Because, _oddly_ _enough_, the pair of Chums had little yellow bolts of lightning on a red background decorating them. Of _course_ her sisters would find the Flash themed Chums.

* * *

><p>Aside from the still air and some occasional stories from Barry, dinner was uneventful. The pizza had been filling, so Erika wasn't even slightly hungry when she went to bed.<p>

During the meal, though, she couldn't help but notice that her mom and Barry weren't talking, which was rather unusual considering that they rarely saw each other except on a few occasions during the year.

She wondered if her newly found speed was yet again the cause of something.

* * *

><p>The next day turned out to be Saturday, so as per Saturday routine Erika and Hayden battled it out in an Xbox <em>Hot Wheels <em>battle.

Surprisingly, Hayden was quite eager to challenge her to said battle despite her being a speedster. She was glad of this, because it meant that her bother didn't feel intimidated by her new meta-human powers.

* * *

><p>"I'm <em>gonna<em> win …. I'm … _not_ _gonna_ win," Hayden moaned as Erika beat him to the finish line by a split second.

While he was bemoaning over his loss, Erika frowned. She found that the Xbox wasn't enough stimuli as it used to be.

Her speed gave her an unfair advantage against her siblings and she didn't like it. Erika wanted to feel the excitement again, but unfortunately she couldn't run or anything and she probably wasn't going to see Wally again anytime soon.

"Hayden, the Xbox is all yours, I'm gonna quit now," she told her brother before he could chose the next event.

"_Oh_, come _on_, _E._ This is fun. You've never beaten me before," he protested. "You're speed is making you _awesome_."

Erika sighed. "Slow Bro, that's just it. I'm using my speed and it's making this whole game unfair for you."

* * *

><p>Saturday went by at a moderate pace, but it felt pretty slow to Erika. She played on the Xbox for a little bit by herself, but it still felt <em>too<em> slow.

To pass the time, Erika dug up some of the books she hadn't read in a while.

By evening, Erika had been able to finish _The Lord of the Rings_, _The Princess Bride_, and at least half of _The Guardians of Ga'Hoole _series.

She was thankful that her mom didn't realize that her speed transcended her body and into her mind, because if her mom knew Erika was sure that she wouldn't be allowed to read books anymore.

* * *

><p>Sunday came and passed quickly as thing shifted back to as normal as it could be. Her family went to church and Erika found that her alibi for being gone so long was that she supposedly had gotten hurt badly enough to where she had to be in Phoenix.<p>

The afternoon turning into evening with the same routine that she had made up the day before. Her siblings tired to get her to use her speed, but she had declined, giving a reason of that she was reading.

She went through the rest of _The Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ series and had begun _The Chronicles of Narnia _by dinner.

At dinner, though, things turned _interesting_.

* * *

><p>"Thirty ten out dug," Hayden whispered in Erika's ear when the adults were distracted by something.<p>

She gave him a questioning look as if to ask him why her siblings were planning a Kid Council.

"Just be there."

* * *

><p>Evening slowly turned into night and Erika couldn't help but fidget and wonder why her siblings had called a Kid Council. Why did they so desperately need to meet that they intended to break curfew and sneak out to their substitute for a tree house.<p>

Aside from Erika gaining super speed, there hadn't been any sort of family crisis or dilemma that her and her siblings needed to discuss. If this meeting was because of her speed, then there was no need for it, what would happen in that area of her life was already prescribed.

* * *

><p>Erika set aside her questions when her wrists watch read ten twenty-five. As per their sibling tradition, Erika was the last to head for the dugout.<p>

The dugout was their underground hangout. Since there weren't any trees that could hold a tree house up anywhere near their house, they'd talked their dad into digging out a place to hang out one summer and it had served many purposes since. It was the official place of meeting when someone called a Kid Council.

Erika looked over her shoulder to make sure that her parents hadn't seen her. Once she was confident that no one had seen her, she pulled the tarp off the opening of the dugout and entered.

An electric camping lamp illuminated the face of her siblings. Hayden sat at the far end of the dugout looking serious, Samantha had her usual bright smile, and Elizabeth happily had Spot – their pet cat – in her lap as she petted him.

"So, what's this all about?" Erika took her place in the dugout.

"You and your speed," Hayden stated.

"Yeah, what about it?"

Hayden looked at the twins, almost as if to check if they were in agreement, before saying, "We're decided that you should be a superhero."

"Wait, _what_?"

Erika surveyed her siblings' faces, it was apparent to her that _this_ had been their verdict ever since they had witnessed her run like the speedster she actually was.

"_We_ want _you_ to be a speedster," Hayden repeated.

"Yeah, E, you couldn't sit still even before you were a speedster, but now … well, let's just say that the couch was vibrating while you were reading," Elizabeth pointed out.

"Uncle Barry could train you, _any_ superhero could use _more_ sidekicks," Samantha added.

"But mom -" Erika started to say, but stopped herself short in order to keep from telling the twins what their mom had ruled about her speed.

"We know about Mom's rules," Hayden responded. "But you need to be a hero, you can't sit still _and_ you can't stay cooped up. At the least, Mom should let Barry give you some training so you can run without getting hurt."

Erika glared at Hayden, it wasn't unlike him to eaves drop, but to bring it here before addressing her _was_ unlike him. He'd usually talk to her about stuff then together they would decide if they needed to talk to the twins about the topic, and not the other way around.

"Then, what do you suggest I do? You know Mom, when she makes up her mind its set in stone unless a _literal_ volcano goes off," she replied.

"I really don't know, E, but try talking to her and make sure that both Bad and Barry are there."

* * *

><p>Erika sighed. The weirdest <em>and<em> most effective Kid Council had come to a closure. Her siblings had decided to talk to their mom about the rules that had been set in place. That would be an interesting _and_ difficult conversation, but at the moment Erika and her siblings had another situation to deal with.

Together her and her siblings had to get into the house.

Normally, they wouldn't have _too_ much trouble getting in at night because their parents were usually getting ready for bed and they'd be able to go through the living room. But tonight that wasn't the case.

* * *

><p>"Guys, get back. <em>Back!<em>" Erika urgently whispered, shoving Hayden back so as to keep them from being seen.

"Holy crap, Batman's in our living room." Hayden gaped at the looming figure framed in the window of their living room.

"He _is_?"

"Can we _see_?"

"No," Erika commanded the twins, pulling her siblings behind the aged wooden fence that outlined the patio. "We've got to find another way in."

"Got any ideas, _E_?" Hayden asked. _Of course_, her siblings always turned to her in a tight situation.

She peeked around the creaking wood fence and quickly assessed the patio side of the house for any entry way.

In less than five seconds Erika turned back to Hayden and the twins with a smile. "Maybe, _just_ maybe."

* * *

><p>"Hayden, have you ever tried <em>fat<em> _free_ ice cream or _yogurt_? It's _delicious_," Erika groaned.

"Well, maybe, _you_ could've found a _different_ entrance," he snapped at her.

They'd successfully gotten their sisters into their parents' bedroom through a window, but Erika was having trouble getting Hayden in. Erika found that lifting her brother up to where he could reach into the window sill was much harder than she'd thought.

"Just a _little_ higher, E," encouraged Elizabeth from inside.

"He's almost … he's got it, E. He's got it," Samantha informed her.

Hayden clamored in and then asked, "Now, how are we gonna get Erika in?"

"I don't know, maybe we could pull her in or something," suggested Samantha.

"I don't think that's gonna work," Hayden countered.

"Guys, get away from the window, I've got a better idea," Erika confidently stated.

Determinedly, Erika backed up to the fence. She hoped that there was room enough to do what she planned to attempt.

She took a deep breath and braced herself, before sprinting as fast as she dared towards the window and when she felt that she had enough speed and momentum Erika jumped.

Erika somehow managed to get her upper body into the window and quickly hoisted the rest of her body into her parents' room.

"You did _that_ in less than five seconds, _E_," an astonished Hayden informed her.

"No _duh_."

* * *

><p>The Ericson siblings quietly slipped through their house, with Erika in the lead. All of them knew the risk of being caught: grounded for two weeks or more.<p>

Amazingly, they'd managed to get past the door way leading to the living room without anyone noticing them, or at least acknowledged their prescience.

* * *

><p>"Hey, E, they're talking about you," Hayden whispered to Erika.<p>

"_What_?" Erika was so intent on getting back to their room without getting caught that she'd completely ignored whatever was being said in the living room.

"The _adults_, they're talking to about you. I think you oughta listen in."

"No, I've got to get to my room, and so do you."

"Erika, you really oughta listen in on this." Hayden grabbed her wrist before she could do anything about it.

She glared at him for a moment before conceding to his suggestion. "Fine, I'll listen, but only for a few minutes."

* * *

><p>Erika and Hayden listened to the conversation for a few minutes before and it wasn't long before they were joined by their pajama-ed sisters.<p>

The conversation was indeed about her. Both Batman and Barry were trying to convince her mom to let her join "the team." Erika guessed that this "team" was the group of sidekicks she'd met.

Normally, Erika wouldn't join Hayden in spying on their parents, but tonight she made an exception. This had to do with her well fair and she would know how it ended.

* * *

><p>"Mariah, <em>please<em>, this may be one of the best things for her. A speedster cannot sit still for very long and with your rules, Erika won't survive for very long like that," Barry stated.

"It's for her own safety, I've seen what you look like after a show down with Captain Cold or any other of your super villains and I will not allow my daughter to be in a situation that would have her come home like that," protested her mom.

"Mrs. Ericson, the team is never sent into a situation that they cannot handle by themselves. Your daughter would be partnered with well trained individuals," informed the Dark Knight.

"The individuals she would be partnered with may be well trained, but Erika isn't. In that situation, Erika would not only be a danger to herself, but to those she is with," her mom responded and Erika thought she could hear some stifled laugher.

* * *

><p>"This <em>isn't<em> going well," Hayden whispered.

"If the Batman can't convince mom to let E be a superhero _then_ how are _we_ going to?" hissed Elizabeth.

"I don't know, but if we don't do something now E's never gonna be allowed to run again," Hayden responded much to Erika's annoyance, she wanted to hear the rest of the conversation.

* * *

><p>"On the team, Erika will receive combat training before she would be assigned to any mission. And of course, she would gain control of her powers and field experience with Barry beforehand if he were allowed to train her," Batman said.<p>

"_No_, I will not permit my daughter to join my brother on his escapade," her mother snapped.

"Maybe you should let Erika decide that," Batman intoned, almost as if he were in on her siblings' conspiracy and were signaling them.

* * *

><p>"E, it now <em>or never<em>," Hayden whispered before giving Erika a strong push into the living room.

"Guys, no!" she managed to yell as she regained her footing.

Erika felt extremely awkward as she noticed how everyone's eyes were on her, plus her mom's glare really made her nervous.

"I'm not the only one up," she said in her defense, but immediately realized that was the worst thing to say in this situation so she quickly covered it up with the obvious fact, "You're kind of loud, Mom."

"Erika, exactly why are you eaves dropping on us?" her mom questioned.

"It's really hard to fall asleep and stay that way when you're ranting, and …," Erika paused trying to find both the confidence and the right words to voice what she felt. "And when said rant is about me don't you think that I would be interested in what was being said?"

"_Yes_, Erika, I suppose you would, but would you and anyone else up please go back to bed," her mom requested.

Erika sighed. This was turning out to be more difficult than she'd ever imagined, especially with her uncle – the Flash – and the Batman watching, but she at least had to try.

"Mom, I would like to go to bed, but I need to say what I feel about this first.

"I know that you only want to protect me, but those rules you put in place, I think they're only gonna end up hurting me. I understand why you don't want me to become a superhero, but that doesn't mean I _shouldn't_ use my powers.

"I only want to learn how to control them, Mom. I got seriously injured from my first run, and that was because of my inexperience.

"All I want is training enough to know now to use them without hurting myself. Is that _so_ much to ask?

"And if learning how to use my powers means being a superhero for a bit then so be it. But Mom, I'd rather do it with your approval than without it."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

><p>Wally didn't know why he volunteered to make a pair of goggles for Erika, but he had and he didn't believe he was going to regret it.<p>

A "_Yes!_" and "_Erika's gonna be Velocity! Erika's gonna be Velocity!_" were heard from the corridor behind Erika and his second cousin put her head in her heads.

Out from behind the corner, the twin girls all but tackled Erika in a hug and a head that belonged to Hayden pocked around.

"The plot thickens." Sighed Mrs. Ericson. "_Of course_, you're all are in this together, aren't you?"  
>Wally smiled as he watched Erika comically try to keep her balance and nod sheepishly. She attempted to pry one of her sisters off of her leg but with no success.<p>

"Then all of you had _better_ get to bed before I ground you." The foursome quickly retreated back to their room. _Well_, Erika had to pull Hayden along to get him to move, plus she practically carried the twins to their rooms.

Once the sound of doors shutting for the night resounded in their ears, did the conversation start back up.

"Now, if you have nothing else to say, I would like to go to bed. Not everyone in this world is a creature of the night," Mrs. Ericson addressed Batman.

Wally didn't think that anyone would ever talk to the Batman like that, but apparently Erika's mom didn't get the memo.

"Of course, but your daughter's training will start immediately. I'll discuss the details with Barry and he'll give them to you later on." With that Bats sauntered out of the Ericson household with Robin in tow. How they'd get to Gotham, Wally didn't know.

He stood in the doorway of the household, suddenly feeling very awkward. Erika was going to bed, Robin had left, and he didn't exactly know what to do.

"Kid, thanks for showing up," Barry said. "You really helped convince Mariah, and I'm sure it means a lot to my sister that someone's gonna be watching Erika's back. You oughta get home, you're mom's probably worried about you, do you realize what time it is in Central City?"

Wally nodded. "Yeah, so Erika's really joining the team?"

"Yeah, you'll be seeing her soon."

* * *

><p>With Barry's help, Wally was able to avoid getting a grounding <em>from<em> his mom. She wasn't too keen that he'd arrived home a little after midnight, bit she was interested in his speedster second cousin.

She wanted to know when she'd be able to met Erika, Wally really didn't know when that would happen, but he hoped he'd see Erika around soon.

* * *

><p>Wally let out a stressful sigh as he ran his fingers through his red hair. Despite the stress he felt, he smile satisfied at his work.<p>

The design for Erika's goggles was complete. For a few days he'd studied up on sports goggles, glasses, and what glasses need to be in order to work.

His design was simple. Different from his own pair of goggles, but that was required since these were meant to be worn all the time by Erika when she was on duty. So the strap was designed to be stronger. These were with lenses that went stretched further back to give Erika maximum peripheral vision. All he need now was Barry to critique them and help him build them.

* * *

><p>About a week had passed since he'd assisted in getting Mrs. Ericson to let Erika be a hero. During that time frame, Barry and Iris had returned from their vacation and life had become relatively normal again, but the question lingered in the air: when was Erika going to start her hero training?<p>

Barry hadn't said anything about it, but something seemed to be on his mind. Wally could tell. His uncle was silent on patrol and he didn't even participate in any conversation that Wally tried to start about Erika.

It was also apparent that Barry hadn't mentioned anything about Erika being a speedster to Jay, which made the speedster family dinner all the more interesting, especially when the only female member wasn't present.

Wednesday night was the monthly speedster family dinner and there was plenty of every dish to go around, enough to make three hungry speedsters full. Even desert was in plenty.

* * *

><p>"So, Barry did anything interesting happen on your extended vacation?" questioned Jay after he had finished his plate.<p>

"You haven't told him, have you?" Wally heard Iris whisper to Barry. "_Tell_ him."

"Um, yeah," Barry sheepishly started. "You remember how when I got my powers I wasn't the only one in the explosion, but I was the only one to get powers?"

Jay nodded. "Yes, I do remember, wasn't it your sister who was in that explosion?"

"Yeah, that was her and she was also pregnant with my niece – Erika – then as well."

"Isn't she the one who started the food fight at your wedding?" interjected Joan and Wally felt his cheeks go flush, remembering the food fight. He did recall he and Erika had also been seated next to Jay and Joan, and that at the wedding Joan hadn't been too pleased with the food fight between Wally and Erika. Joan had also made it a point to tell both of them that.

"Err, yeah, that would be the one. Well now it would appear that I wasn't the only one to receive powers from that explosion, it just took longer for them to manifest," answered Barry, he didn't look exactly like he was enjoying this.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that Erika is a speedster," Iris said out right.

"So we've got another speedster joining us?"

"Yes," supplied his aunt. "She'll be coming to Central City once her school year's over."

"Does this newest speedster have a codename?" Jay asked.

"Velocity is the chosen name," answered Barry.

"Is she going to have an immodest costume like all the others that seem to be popular right now?" Joan questioned.

"No, actually, one of Erika's younger sisters has already designed a costume for her. Would you like to see?" Barry said, a little bit less sheepish now about Erika then previously in the conversation.

"I'd like to see," Wally eagerly blurted out.

As gust of air swept through the room as Barry retrieved the drawing from somewhere and set it on the table.

_Erika's sister is a very good artist_, Wally thought while looking over the drawing.

It was unlike any of the male speedsters' costume. The design took a few lengthy steps away from the traditional speedster attire at least color wise.

The appearance was a lot like his, with the top part of the cowl opened to let her hair flow freely. A pair of yellow lightning bolts on the ears and a pair of goggle were on the cowl. Everything, of course, was connected. The pants, shirt, and cowl or at least they looked that way.

The pants were a brilliant red, but the shirt or at least part of it, was purple. The purple part was designed like a tank top connected with the cowl and decorated with the bright yellow Flash insignia, but there was a thin part on the sides that were a sort of shadow for the arms both of which were the same red as pants.

"Well, that is modest for a change, her sister _ought_ to design clothing when she grows up," commented Joan.

* * *

><p>The school bell resounded through the Keystone High School and Wally had to rein himself in or else risk giving away his secret identity. Friday had finally arrived and that meant he could practically spend the whole weekend at the Cave. Though that did mean training, but when you're in the company of friends what does it matter?<p>

As usual he walked about a block away from his school, give or take, before taking off in a sprint and arrived at his house in Central City in a little less than a minute.

In a flash, Wally had deposited his knapsack in his room, and had a duffle bag packed for his weekend stay at the Cave.

"Later, Mom, see you Sunday," he called as he made a quick bee line for the door.

* * *

><p>It didn't take him long to get to the fake photo booth that acted as the Zeta-tube station for Central City and before he knew it Wally had arrived at the Cave.<p>

Of course, living in a different time zone than all his teammates, Wally was the last member to get there.

As usual, the team was probably in the kitchen and living room. They would start training with Black Canary in about thirty minutes, so Wally still had some social time to spend.

Normally, he would have zipped off to where his friends were, but today Wally just stood rooted where he was. Standing in the mission room was the Flash taking with Black Canary, but the person next to Barry was what had Wally surprised.

Next to Barry was Erika with a red duffle bag slung over a shoulder.

She turned and waved slightly at his with a nervous smile on her face.

Iris had mentioned that Erika would be coming to Central City when her school let out, but he'd guessed that it wouldn't be for another few weeks. His school year wasn't over for another two weeks.

He hadn't expected her to be at the Cave until then.

Wally waved back and returned the smile, but he made sure that it was a reassuring one for Erika before zipping off to the kitchen.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

><p>Wally didn't know why he volunteered to make a pair of goggles for Erika, but he had and he didn't believe he was going to regret it.<p>

A "_Yes!_" and "_Erika's gonna be Velocity! Erika's gonna be Velocity!_" were heard from the corridor behind Erika and his second cousin put her head in her heads.

Out from behind the corner, the twin girls all but tackled Erika in a hug and a head that belonged to Hayden pocked around.

"The plot thickens." Sighed Mrs. Ericson. "_Of course_, you're all are in this together, aren't you?"  
>Wally smiled as he watched Erika comically try to keep her balance and nod sheepishly. She attempted to pry one of her sisters off of her leg but with no success.<p>

"Then all of you had _better_ get to bed before I ground you." The foursome quickly retreated back to their room. _Well_, Erika had to pull Hayden along to get him to move, plus she practically carried the twins to their rooms.

Once the sound of doors shutting for the night resounded in their ears, did the conversation start back up.

"Now, if you have nothing else to say, I would like to go to bed. Not everyone in this world is a creature of the night," Mrs. Ericson addressed Batman.

Wally didn't think that anyone would ever talk to the Batman like that, but apparently Erika's mom didn't get the memo.

"Of course, but your daughter's training will start immediately. I'll discuss the details with Barry and he'll give them to you later on." With that Bats sauntered out of the Ericson household with Robin in tow. How they'd get to Gotham, Wally didn't know.

He stood in the doorway of the household, suddenly feeling very awkward. Erika was going to bed, Robin had left, and he didn't exactly know what to do.

"Kid, thanks for showing up," Barry said. "You really helped convince Mariah, and I'm sure it means a lot to my sister that someone's gonna be watching Erika's back. You oughta get home, you're mom's probably worried about you, do you realize what time it is in Central City?"

Wally nodded. "Yeah, so Erika's really joining the team?"

"Yeah, you'll be seeing her soon."

* * *

><p>With Barry's help, Wally was able to avoid getting a grounding <em>from<em> his mom. She wasn't too keen that he'd arrived home a little after midnight, bit she was interested in his speedster second cousin.

She wanted to know when she'd be able to met Erika, Wally really didn't know when that would happen, but he hoped he'd see Erika around soon.

* * *

><p>Wally let out a stressful sigh as he ran his fingers through his red hair. Despite the stress he felt, he smile satisfied at his work.<p>

The design for Erika's goggles was complete. For a few days he'd studied up on sports goggles, glasses, and what glasses need to be in order to work.

His design was simple. Different from his own pair of goggles, but that was required since these were meant to be worn all the time by Erika when she was on duty. So the strap was designed to be stronger. These were with lenses that went stretched further back to give Erika maximum peripheral vision. All he need now was Barry to critique them and help him build them.

* * *

><p>About a week had passed since he'd assisted in getting Mrs. Ericson to let Erika be a hero. During that time frame, Barry and Iris had returned from their vacation and life had become relatively normal again, but the question lingered in the air: when was Erika going to start her hero training?<p>

Barry hadn't said anything about it, but something seemed to be on his mind. Wally could tell. His uncle was silent on patrol and he didn't even participate in any conversation that Wally tried to start about Erika.

It was also apparent that Barry hadn't mentioned anything about Erika being a speedster to Jay, which made the speedster family dinner all the more interesting, especially when the only female member wasn't present.

Wednesday night was the monthly speedster family dinner and there was plenty of every dish to go around, enough to make three hungry speedsters full. Even desert was in plenty.

* * *

><p>"So, Barry did anything interesting happen on your extended vacation?" questioned Jay after he had finished his plate.<p>

"You haven't told him, have you?" Wally heard Iris whisper to Barry. "_Tell_ him."

"Um, yeah," Barry sheepishly started. "You remember how when I got my powers I wasn't the only one in the explosion, but I was the only one to get powers?"

Jay nodded. "Yes, I do remember, wasn't it your sister who was in that explosion?"

"Yeah, that was her and she was also pregnant with my niece – Erika – then as well."

"Isn't she the one who started the food fight at your wedding?" interjected Joan and Wally felt his cheeks go flush, remembering the food fight. He did recall he and Erika had also been seated next to Jay and Joan, and that at the wedding Joan hadn't been too pleased with the food fight between Wally and Erika. Joan had also made it a point to tell both of them that.

"Err, yeah, that would be the one. Well now it would appear that I wasn't the only one to receive powers from that explosion, it just took longer for them to manifest," answered Barry, he didn't look exactly like he was enjoying this.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that Erika is a speedster," Iris said out right.

"So we've got another speedster joining us?"

"Yes," supplied his aunt. "She'll be coming to Central City once her school year's over."

"Does this newest speedster have a codename?" Jay asked.

"Velocity is the chosen name," answered Barry.

"Is she going to have an immodest costume like all the others that seem to be popular right now?" Joan questioned.

"No, actually, one of Erika's younger sisters has already designed a costume for her. Would you like to see?" Barry said, a little bit less sheepish now about Erika then previously in the conversation.

"I'd like to see," Wally eagerly blurted out.

As gust of air swept through the room as Barry retrieved the drawing from somewhere and set it on the table.

_Erika's sister is a very good artist_, Wally thought while looking over the drawing.

It was unlike any of the male speedsters' costume. The design took a few lengthy steps away from the traditional speedster attire at least color wise.

The appearance was a lot like his, with the top part of the cowl opened to let her hair flow freely. A pair of yellow lightning bolts on the ears and a pair of goggle were on the cowl. Everything, of course, was connected. The pants, shirt, and cowl or at least they looked that way.

The pants were a brilliant red, but the shirt or at least part of it, was purple. The purple part was designed like a tank top connected with the cowl and decorated with the bright yellow Flash insignia, but there was a thin part on the sides that were a sort of shadow for the arms both of which were the same red as pants.

"Well, that is modest for a change, her sister _ought_ to design clothing when she grows up," commented Joan.

* * *

><p>The school bell resounded through the Keystone High School and Wally had to rein himself in or else risk giving away his secret identity. Friday had finally arrived and that meant he could practically spend the whole weekend at the Cave. Though that did mean training, but when you're in the company of friends what does it matter?<p>

As usual he walked about a block away from his school, give or take, before taking off in a sprint and arrived at his house in Central City in a little less than a minute.

In a flash, Wally had deposited his knapsack in his room, and had a duffle bag packed for his weekend stay at the Cave.

"Later, Mom, see you Sunday," he called as he made a quick bee line for the door.

* * *

><p>It didn't take him long to get to the fake photo booth that acted as the Zeta-tube station for Central City and before he knew it Wally had arrived at the Cave.<p>

Of course, living in a different time zone than all his teammates, Wally was the last member to get there.

As usual, the team was probably in the kitchen and living room. They would start training with Black Canary in about thirty minutes, so Wally still had some social time to spend.

Normally, he would have zipped off to where his friends were, but today Wally just stood rooted where he was. Standing in the mission room was the Flash taking with Black Canary, but the person next to Barry was what had Wally surprised.

Next to Barry was Erika with a red duffle bag slung over a shoulder.

She turned and waved slightly at his with a nervous smile on her face.

Iris had mentioned that Erika would be coming to Central City when her school let out, but he'd guessed that it wouldn't be for another few weeks. His school year wasn't over for another two weeks.

He hadn't expected her to be at the Cave until then.

Wally waved back and returned the smile, but he made sure that it was a reassuring one for Erika before zipping off to the kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve **

* * *

><p>Erika tip toed through the halls. She'd just finished her early morning shower and now had to get breakfast and find some quiet way to entertain herself.<p>

Thankfully leftovers were plentiful, so she didn't have to resort to who knows how many bowls of cereal. As she heated up multiple pieces of pizza and two bowls of chili, she silently wondered if she'd still have to take a pile with breakfast.

Now that her speed had manifested, was there any need to take medication that was meant to prevent that from happening?

"Probably not." She shrugged, removing the heated up chili from the microwave. "Check on food. No check on alternative to boredom ….. Hmm, computer's gonna be too noise. Wonder how many books I can fit into one morning?"

She quickly combed through her section of the bookshelf and selected a think books that she'd been meaning to read, but hadn't made time to.

Book in hand, she relocated her breakfast outside. She didn't want to wake her uncle and aunt, everyone had had a late night and they would be awakened, whether they wanted to or not, by her noise and grumpy siblings soon enough.

She set her plate of pizza and bowls of chili on the flat roof of the dog house. Spot meowed a greeting as he sauntered on over to her.

Erika gave him a quick petting in return and settled down with her book.

"_Dragons in Our Midst_," she tested those words. They had a nice ring to them so she didn't hesitate to open the book to the first pages and began to read about an adventure that was so unlike her own, yet felt so close.

Dragons and slayers, heroes and villains, and ancient prophecies. The book enchanted her as only a good book can. She thoroughly enjoyed it and her stomach was filled with butterflies as a slayer appeared in the Banister plane and shot the dragon in human form and sent the plane on a crash course in the Appalachian Mountains.

* * *

><p>"Hey, guys, where's Erika?" she heard Hayden yell loudly interrupting her readings.<p>

"How should I know? She gets up so early," Elizabeth snapped in her signature grumpy morning attitude.

"_Ugh_ … I suppose it's time to go back inside," Erika thought, reluctantly putting her book down.

* * *

><p>"I didn't know this many people cared about me," she thought taking a seat at an empty table. That morning her parents had reenrolled her in her high school and that morning had put a lot of guilt on the speedster's conscious, but she was more stunned than something else.<p>

People she hardly talked to had given her some cards or a hug, a few of her fellow literature junkies had given her a list of all the new books that had come in while she'd been gone, and most embracing of all, some of the most popular males in the teen populace of Dry Creek had offered to carry her books to her next class.

Didn't anyone understand the shirt she was wearing? "_Socially Awkward_" applied literally to her and not the comical way her shirt presented.

Also no one, but no one, carried her books but her, especially if the book was one she enjoyed.

Erika dramatically collapsed on the couch when she arrived home.

* * *

><p>"Stressful day?" Hayden said sitting down at her feet.<p>

"You bet! To think all this was because I didn't take some stupid pile," Erika groaned, letting her stress tense muscles relax as she lay on the couch. "Hey, where's Uncle Barry?"

She'd just noticed that her uncle's and aunt's baggage was gone, and when she thought about it their car was gone too.

"You just missed them, they left about fifteen minutes before you got here," her brother replied.

Erika groaned again, she'd wanted to see them off; unfortunately her bus was extremely slow. It'd been that way even before she was a speedster. "I wanted to ask him for tips about speeding before she left."

"Don't worry," Hayden said as she sat up. "I asked for you."

She scrutinized her brother's expression. He had a smile spread on his face that usually mean he was devising a plan for a prank that would get them in trouble, but would be extremely fun beforehand.

"Hayden, what are you thinking?"

He just smiled wider.

* * *

><p>"Slow Bro, are you sure about this?" Erika scanned the area again, but no one was around, except her brother. Hayden had a smug look on his face as he leaned cockily against the handle bars of his bike.<p>

"Relax E, there's nothing to worry about. Mom's not going to see any bruises or scrapes, so she won't panic and you'll only have to take a shower after we're done," he replied coolly.

"Yeah, a really long shower," she retorted.

"Just start practicing," her brother ordered.

Erika adjusted her bike helmet and scanned the sandy dunes thinking about how to start his.

Why she'd let Hayden talk her into going speeding in the sand dunes, she'd didn't really know. One moment she'd been doing her homework, both recently acquired and make up stuff, when her brother grabbed her by the arm, led her outside, and told her that it was time to practice. Before she knew it, they were on the mesa with her bike helmet on and having the previous conversation.

"Get on with it already, for a speedster you're being rather slow," Hayden commented as she hesitantly kicked at the sand.

"Alright, alright." Erika took a deep breath and shook as many nerves out of her system as she could.

_Here goes nothing._

* * *

><p>Erika smiled contentedly as she ran a hand through her sandy locks. She would definitely need a shower, but she had totally enjoyed that speeding experience.<p>

Hayden too had enjoyed it, especially since she was using her powers. Once she'd gotten the hang of running on the sand or "Sand Running" as Hayden had dubbed it, he'd joined in the fun by biking along with her.

It had eventually turned into a race and then evolved into a sand fight when she'd left Hayden in the dust literally.

* * *

><p>"You're such a mess," their mother scolded as the two happy siblings waltzed into their home tracking sand in with them.<p>

"I know isn't it great?" Hayden retorted much to Erika's dismay. She face palmed herself, Hayden's idea of an answer was not what ought to be said to their mother.

"And just what are you doing that you two so … dusty?"

"Practicing," Erika answered, putting her hand over her brother's mouth so he couldn't say something that would guarantee something or other that the speedster didn't want.

"Oh … how so?" Their mother scrutinized the two siblings.

Hayden pried Erika's hand from his mouth.

"We were in the Dunes," Hayden replied. "You should have seen it! Especially when Erika did a face plant into the sand, it was hilarious!"

Erika smiled a begging smile as if asking her mom not to be too mad. She merely sighed. "You two are going to be the death of me."

* * *

><p>The week began to form a new regular schedule with her going to school, doing her homework, and then Hayden dragging her – mostly unwillingly – to the Dunes to get her to practice. Usually, both of them would end up coming home with dust in their hair, and sometimes even bumps or bruises. Erika actually was starting to enjoy their practices.<p>

High school began to become average again. With very few people taking notice of her and by extension her speed. Though some of the boys still asked to carry her supplies, but they finally learned not to ask to carry her books. They'd finally learned that her readings were of limits.

Though she still didn't let them carry her stuff, but they weren't quitters so sometimes she even let the more persistent ones escort her to class. That was because she didn't know how to say 'no' when the conversation became exponentially awkward and it always got very awkward.

She was also glad that it was so, because she was sure that if it wasn't people would have thought she was looking for a boyfriend. That was totally something she didn't want, especially when she had super speed that was something hard enough to deal with.

The homework that she'd had thought would be a real problem actually turned out to be real simple. Erika's fast paced mind actually had been the best advantage to the homework, she now learned exponentially faster than she ever had. It also made high school sort of boring, and made her wonder how Wally dealt with his speedster abilities for years, because she was having so much trouble with it and she'd only had her powers for a little over a month.

* * *

><p>The weekend couldn't have come sooner. The weekend was a long awaited break, and a well anticipated time. She hadn't seen Barry at all during the week and he hadn't called or spoken to her at all, so she wondered what was happening in the hero realm.<p>

Her mom had agreed to have Erika train to be a heroine. The first female speedster ever, but when was the question. Since she hadn't seen Barry, she hadn't been able to ask when her training would start. That wasn't even touching on her other question of when she'd actually start crime fighting, but she knew that this was going to have to be taken in strides. Elegant, long stride, which would hopefully lead to becoming a hero and even more hopefully she'd not trip over her own two feet in the process.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Mom, I'm home," Erika called, walking into the kitchen and quickly making herself two or three peanuts butter sandwiches. Fridays she always arrived home earlier than her siblings, because her school was interestingly enough a boarding school for some and others a regular high school, so people need to get home early.<p>

"That's great, Erika could you come into the den please," her mother called.

_Wonder what's up. Mom sounds stressed_, Erika thought as she trotted into the den totting her sandwiches. _Seriously, what's going on?_

Erika eyed the three people in the den. Her mom and dad sat on the couch and her mom had a slightly annoyed expression. The third person in the den was none other than Barry suited up in his brilliant red Flash costume.

"Ah … what's developed that I should know about?" she asked, gesturing to Barry with her sandwich.

"Erika, you're trainings about to begin," said Barry enthusiastically and she noticed that her mom glared at her uncle.

Erika smiled broadly. "Sweet, so when do we start?"

"It's not exactly 'we'," responded her uncle.

"Erika, you're going to start combat training with …what did you call it, Barry? Young Justice?" her mom replied.

"Yeah, that's right. You're gonna be training with the team over the weekend."

"_Alright_! … Wait, you said the weekend?"

Barry nodded. "That's right, Erika. Pack you things, and get your tooth brush ready. You're gonna be having a sleep over!"

* * *

><p>To be perfectly honest, Erika felt almost sick to her stomach as she looked around the rotunda-like room. Her red duffle was slung over her shoulder. She nervously checked her pocket again and felt the reassuring fabric of her Chum there.<p>

She was relieved that it hadn't been lost in her run to Flagstaff with Barry; she'd definitely need it during whatever activities happened over the weekend.

"Relax, Velocity, you're gonna do great, the team already likes you," Barry said putting a hand on her shoulder.

Erika only nodded in reply, her thought unable to form any coherent words.

"So what are you two doing here?" someone asked, walking into the rotunda. It was Black Canary, the heroine in charge of training all the young heroes on the team, which would soon include her.

"Erika had a free weekend, and I decided that it was time to start her training," Barry replied, his tone still sounded enthusiastic.

* * *

><p>Erika's mind wondered as Barry and Black Canary discussed some details about Erika's stay at the Cave. The time let her nerves mount higher and higher. She wished that they would stop talking; it felt like a surreal dream that she'd awaken from in an instant. The more they talked, the more she started to doubt that she could actually be a superhero.<p>

There was little about her that would qualify as someone who could be a hero. She was just a book worm who had just happened to be in the womb when her uncle got his superpowers, a book worm with an over active imagination that sometimes get her into trouble.

The bundle of butterflies moving as fast as dragonflies in her stomach culminated to its peak when she heard a computerized voice called out, "Recognized: Kid Flash B-zero three."

Erika looked over her shoulder to see her second cousin standing at the foot of the Zeta-tube with a surprise expression on his face. Evidently, her stay at the Cave was a last minute detail for everyone.

She waved at him and smiled nervously as he gained composure. He smiled back reassuringly before he zipped off to his teammates.

* * *

><p>"So, Erika, what do you know about combat?" Black Canary asked, addressing Erika.<p>

"Um …" Erika thought for a minute. What did you know about combat? Almost nothing! "Just a little bit I suppose."

The heroine glared at Barry for a moment before sighing and wagging her head. "I suppose you'll have to start from square one then."

She gnawed on the inside of her lip, wanting to say something in her defense. She knew that she was not knowledgeable in martial arts, but she didn't want to be incompetent. "I'm a quick learner."

"You'll do the easy drills with the team, but when I tell you to: sit out and observe. Afterwards, I'll tutor you. Don't expect anything to be easy, because it won't be."

Erika nodded as she resisted smiling. "I never expected it to be."

"Good, go get settled in, training's going to start soon."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

><p>Barry grabbed his suit cases and totted them out to his car. Iris would be the one to drive, because Barry couldn't slow down and usually got a ticket somewhere along the way if he drove.<p>

Mariah was helping Iris pack as they conversed. He still needed to ask his sister and he needed to do it while his nieces and nephews were away.

He wondered how Mariah would react to his proposition. It'd taken forever to get her to agree with Erika's training, so just how long would it take for him to convince her to let Erika live with him and Iris while she trained.

"Best get it over with, and do it while Mariah's in a good mood," he thought rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He knew it was best to ask his sister about this sort of thing when she was in a good mood.

"So, Barry, when is Erika going to start her training?" Mariah asked before Barry could voice his question.

He shrugged. "I don't know exactly, but _he_ said soon, so I'd expect either me or some other Leaguer to contact you about that sometime this week."

"Fine." She nodded. "Just as long as they prepare Erika soon I'm okay with it, but if they wait too long I won't allow any of it."

"Speaking of training, Mariah, I was wondering if Erika could well … come live with me and Iris for a while." He offered a sheepish smile.

"Why would that be? Won't she be getting combat training from someone else? That's what your friend was implying, wasn't it?" Mariah looked at him confused.

"Ah … yes, she will be trained by someone else, but Erika's gonna need more than just martial arts to be the best hero she could be," he said, quickly thinking over his words. "Her speedster abilities make her fast, so that will likely present both problems and advantages during training. Since I'm based in Central City and it would be awkward to have a speedster who's the sidekick of Flash all the way in Arizona. I was thinking that for a little while Erika could come live with me and Iris."

For a while Mariah didn't say anything. She seemed to be contemplating his words. The usually thoughtful look was in her eyes.

"For how long would you be taking care of her?" Mariah questioned after a while, eyeing him carefully.

"I don't know, as long as necessary I guess," he replied.

"You want to raise a _teenage girl_ for as long it takes her to get a handle on her powers, if not longer?" his sister echoed raising an eyebrow. "Barry, you may have a sidekick, but you've never taken care of a kid like you're suggesting and even if you had, you'll be taking care of a teenage girl, not a young man. There's a monumental difference there!"

"Mariah, I'm a speedster, I'll learn quickly," he argued defensively.

"A hormonal teenage girl, Barry! There's a huge difference between the two genders. You're infinitely inexperienced in dealing with young ladies," stated his sister with a huff.

"Barry may not have any understanding of how teenage girl are, but I do, Mariah," interrupted Iris calmly. "I'm sure that I could be able to take care of Erika as far as your concerns go. Mariah, everything will be alright, and I'm sure that Erika would call you if she needed to talk to you."

Mariah sighed. "I'll have to think about this before I can give you an answer. Okay?"

"Of course, it's your discussion to make, as well as Erika's, said Iris.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Uncle Barry, are you guys leaving?" Hayden asked as he tromped into the Ericson household promptly throwing his knapsack in the living room carelessly.<p>

"Yeah, Erika's back and we need to get back to Central City. I've had too much of a vacation already," Barry replied.

"Oh … so you're no gonna stick around and give Erika a little training before you leave?"

"Sorry, buddy, but we've got to get on the road. It takes a long time to _drive_ home." Barry sighed, it took too long to drive to Central City, but at least he could run ahead and get everything ready for when Iris arrived home, even if it took a few days.

"Hmm …. Are there any suggestions you have for Erika? She's probably gonna want to start learning to use her speed soon," Hayden thoughtfully asked.

"Shouldn't Erika be the one to ask that question?"

"Yeah well, Erika doesn't get back from school until much later then us and you said you wanted to leave soon, so ….." Hayden shrugged.

"And I supposed you'll pass the word along to your sister?" Barry gave him a look mock seriousness, he knew that no matter how much the eldest Ericson siblings annoyed each other, they would always remain fiercely loyal to one another.

"Of course!"

* * *

><p>The week passed by slowly as Barry's life returned to a new level of relative normal. He and Iris began to move the boxes of junk that had taken up residence in the guest room to the garage.<p>

Though Mariah hadn't given them a final answer, Iris insisted that they prepare for the possibility of Erika joining them.

Barry agreed that this was a good idea. Mariah had talked with him over the phone Tuesday and when he'd mentioned the schools were extremely good in Keystone, she'd said that she'd into everything. If there was one way to get Mariah to sending her kids to go somewhere it was when you mentioned education.

He remembered when he'd helped escort the two oldest Ericson siblings through Yellow Stone. Mariah was pleased that the two were so mesmerized by the geyser that they didn't realize that they were learning.

If all went well, Erika would probably be there by the next school year, taking classes with Wally, though it was still Mariah's call, and his sister was really, _really_ stubborn.

* * *

><p>Barry looked over the blue prints of Wally's design for Erika's goggles.<p>

_Yes, those will definitely work_, Barry thought as he compared it with Elizabeth's design for Erika's Velocity costume. _Wonder how Erika will take to it though. _

He had yet to show the future speedster superhero the designs; he didn't want Erika too eager to get into the action just yet. She needed to be trained before that happened.

Barry merely sighed; he'd have to wait before showing it to Erika. It'd take a while to make, especially with the custom that required special manufacturing.

In the meantime, Barry had other matters to deal with. One such matter being telling the other member of the speedster family of the newest arrival.

_I hope it goes smoothly_, Barry thought as he set aside the blue prints to get ready for the dinner. He remembered when he told Jay and Joan about Wally becoming a speedster. Jay welcomed Wally into the speedster family, but hadn't appreciated the fact that it'd come through an explosion and Barry's notes.

He wondered how the elder speedster would take to the news that Erika had had the potential all her life to be a speedster and had just become the first female speedster. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to keep everyone but himself, and Erika's parents in the dark about Erika's potential meta-human powers. But what's done was done, and now everyone had to live with the repercussions of that faulty decision.

* * *

><p>Barry had been beating around the bush for all of the speedster family dinner. Jay and Joan seemingly hadn't found out about Erika through the usual gossip hotlines, and Wally wasn't prompting him to start taking about Erika, but the look on his nephew's face told him that Wally wanted to.<p>

Despite the evident fact that the elder speedster didn't know about Erika, it was apparent that he knew something unusual had happened over his vacation. Though just about everyone could probably see that some sort of family emergency or something had occurred during said break from work no one had asked yet.

"So did anything interesting happen in your extended vacation?" Jay asked bringing Barry to the conversation at hand.

Barry's tongue had been captured by a cat and he didn't know how to reply exactly. He felt his wife nudge his side, prompting him to look at her.

"You haven't told him, have you?"

Barry shook his head so that only she would see.

"Tell him," she hissed softly at him. Barry hoped that no one else had heard their little interaction, but the awkward silence in the dining room told him otherwise.

"Umm," he started. "Yeah, you remember how when I got my powers I wasn't the only one in the explosion, but I was the only to get powers?"

The best way to explain what had happened was probably to explain how Erika got her powers.

The elder speedster nodded slowly. "Yes, I do remember, wasn't it your sister who was in that explosion?"

"Yeah, that was her, and she was also pregnant with my niece – Erika – then as well," he went on but was interrupted.

"Isn't she the one who started the food fight as you wedding?" Joan interjected.

_Oh, great! Just what I need, past accidents don't need to be brought up and Erika's grown out of the food throwing stage, I hope,_ he thought before saying, "Er, yeah, that would be the one. Well, it would appear that I wasn't the only one to receive powers from that explosion, it just took longer for them to manifest."

Jay shared a look with Joan before asking, "Meaning?"

Barry bit his lip thoughtfully. How was he supposed to explain how Erika became a speedster without making things sound too complicated? Thankfully, Iris saved him from making a fool out of himself.

"Meaning that Erika is a speedster," she bluntly answered.

A bright smile formed on Jay's face.

"So we've got another speedster joining us?" He sounded excited as he asked that question. Barry hated the fact that the answer was that he didn't know when Erika would be coming to Central City, but before he could answer Iris did with something he didn't expect.

"Yes, she'll be coming to Central City once her school year's over."

He gave Iris a questioning look, which she answered with an expression of her own that meant 'I'll explain later.'

"Does this newest speedster have a codename?" Jay continued happily.

"Velocity is the chosen one," Barry supplied. He knew that Jay would probably approve of such a name for the first female speedster. It was definitely appropriate for Erika.

"Is she going to have an immodest costume like all the others that seem to be popular right now?" Joan asked. He knew that Joan would ask something like that.

Though the definition of 'modest' had changed a lot since Joan's time, Barry knew that she'd probably approve of Erika's superhero outfit.

"No. Actually, one of Erika's younger sisters has already designed a costume for her. Would you like to see?" Barry offered. He saw Wally's light up, after having listened and said nothing throughout the conversation it was about time that Wally said something.

"I'd like to see!" he blurted out not a moment later.

Barry smiled as he sped off to get Elizabeth's design form his room. As usual it didn't take him that long to get what he wanted.

Soon enough he was back at the West household setting the drawing on the table. The Garricks, Wests, and Iris were scrutinizing Elizabeth's handiwork. "Well, that is modest for a change; her sister ought to design clothing when she grows up."

* * *

><p>"So, how do you know that Erika's gonna be able to join us?" Barry asked. After dinner he and Iris had gone home, and Barry wanted to know how Iris knew that information.<p>

"Mariah called while you were looking over Wally's goggles design this afternoon," she replied. "She just wanted to tell us that Erika could come if her training started soon."

"Hmm." Barry nodded contentedly, putting finding out about training on his hero to-do list.

"When do you think she'll be able to start? Mariah would really like to know, Barry," continued Iris. "Barry, are you paying attention?"

Honestly, Barry wasn't paying attention. He had other thoughts on his mind.

"Barry, what are you thinking?" she questioned in a sing-song voice.

"That I love you." Barry pulled Iris into a strong hug and kissed her gently.

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>Barry listened to the League meeting in boredom. After Erika's speedster development, there wasn't anything too interesting being discussed at the meetings.<p>

Though that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. He still had to ask Batman when Erika was going to be able to start combat training. He hoped it was soon, because he'd talked to Mariah that afternoon and she seemed anxious to know when it would begin.

"If Erika is going to be a superhero, she had better know how to defend herself well in advanced," Mariah had said and Barry totally agreed. He hadn't let Wally accompany on patrol until the younger speedster knew enough to keep him from getting too badly hurt.

The meeting was eventually adjourned and surprisingly the first female speedster hadn't been brought up once, which would really make it awkward to confront Bats about her training. It would have been so much easier to ask that question during the meeting then outside of it and besides it'd give Black Canary a heads up on her newest student.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Bats!" he called before the Dark Knight could zeta to Gotham. "Mariah wants to know when Erika can start combat training."<p>

Batman didn't hesitate to answer. "There's a weekend long training session this weekend that your niece will be able to attend. Also inform her mother to expect Erika's first mission to come in a month. Don't tell Erika that though, because if she hasn't show efficient progress in training, she won't go."

"Okay," Barry said as the Dark Knight returned to his realm.

* * *

><p>He wasn't too far from Dry Creek when he went over the information Bats had given him. It had been unexpected, but not unwanted. He knew that as soon as Erika got a handle on her powers and a good sense of combat, she'd want to get her feet wet in the field.<p>

He wondered how Mariah would take to that information. She might not like the knowledge of Erika going into a dangerous situation. But she'd agreed to let Erika because a hero, nonetheless Barry didn't linger on thinking over all the possible reactions that his sister could have, because he'd find out soon enough.

* * *

><p>"What?!" Mariah practically screeched when Barry told her the agenda for the upcoming months.<p>

It could have been worse. Mariah was just thoroughly stunned by the fact that Batman planned to send Erika on a mission so soon if her training went well.

"Do you need me to repeat it or do you need a second to process it?" Barry asked politely.

"So, Erika will start her official training this weekend?" Ray asked calmly. He was taking to Erika becoming a hero much better then Mariah was.

"Yeah, if you guys allow it that is." Barry nodded.

"The sooner the better applies to training, not missions, or doesn't your friend understand that?" Mariah retorted.

He just shrugged. "The Bat does things his own way, and he really doesn't give his reasons."

"Apparently," she growled in response and then sighed. "Do you think Erika could get to such a level that she'd be able to go on a mission to who knows where in the time frame of a month?"

"Mariah, she is a speedster. Even I'm not fully sure how fast she's learning stuff, because each speedster is different from the next and besides she is the first female speedster so we really don't entirely know all the effects that it'd have on girls," he answered. "So for the most part, its al learning experience for all of us."

Mariah sighed again in exasperation. "So she's going to start her training this weekend with that team that was about talked about last Sunday?"

Barry nodded eagerly. "Yeah, she'll be having a sleepover with the team. I guess you'd call the team Young Justice if you wanted it to sound official."

"Alright, we'll let Erika train, but I'm not so sure about the mission," she said as Ray took her hand and held it reassuringly.

"Now all we have to do is wait for Erika to come home," Barry said. "That's gonna a while."

He'd come in the early afternoon to make sure that Erika and her siblings didn't get wind of the scheduled mission, but he'd also expected convincing Mariah to take longer than it had, so he would have to wait longer than he wanted to without anything to do.

Mariah merely smirked. "It'll be sooner than you think."

* * *

><p>It had taken less time then Barry had expected for Erika to come home, but thankfully, she'd been excited about the weekend stay at Mount Justice. She'd even accepted Barry's offer of a speeding lesson on the way to Flagstaff.<p>

Barry had worried that Erika's poor eyesight would present a problem while the goggles were still being manufactured, but it would seem that Erika had found a temporary solution to her problem.

She had a fabric glasses holder that kept her eye wear in place throughout the run. Surprisingly, Erika's "Chums" as she called it, had the Flash insignia on it. Barry thought it was appropriate for a future superhero speedster. Plus it'd definitely work for her civvies while at Mount Justice and on some missions.

* * *

><p>Nervousness was written on Erika's face as they materialized in the zeta-tubes, but it was not unexpected. Last time she'd merely been a guest at the Cave, this time, however, she was a here as a heroine in training. Barry knew that it could be extremely intimidating when faced with something like this, but a good dose of humility and nervousness was good. Erika probably would be a skilled hero as she gained more and more confidence in her powers and abilities, he knew that she would eventually, but for now a few other heroes would have to help her along.<p>

"Relax, Velocity, you're gonna do great, the team already likes you." He put a hand on her shoulder and it had the desired effect. Erika was a lot like Mariah in many ways and unlike her in others. At least it gave him a blue print of how to help and comfort her.

"So what are you two doing here?" Black Canary asked as she sauntered into the mission room.

"Erika had a free weekend, and I decided that it was time to start her training," he answered the heroine enthusiastically.

"You decided?"

"Well, actually Bats more or less invited her, and Erika had a free weekend, so here we are," he replied with a shrug.

"So she's joining the team?"

"Sort of, she's going to need some training before anything too serious. Plus, I want to make sure she knows how to use her speed correctly."

"Do you think she's ready for it?" the heroine asked, gesturing to Erika who wasn't paying attention to the conversation. The ADD was a side effect of super speed that Erika probably was less apt to reign in the focus of due to the fact that medication had been doing it for so long for her.

"She's definitely not ready for field work, but for training I think she's more than ready. It wouldn't hurt her to start now," he replied.

"Does she have a uniform yet?"

"No, we've still got to make that, but it shouldn't be too long before she gets one."

"And a codename? She can't exactly have a guest designation when zeta-ing."

"Velocity is what's been settled on."

The heroine nodded thoughtfully before turning to Erika. "So, Erika, what do you know about combat?"

**I hope this long chapter makes up for the wait, and I only have three things to say right now.**

**One: what did you think of the little writing test I did? You know the fluffy, love scene with Barry and Iris? Please tell me, I've never written a romance of any kind before, so I need input. Two: I own nothing aside from the original characters.**

**_THREE: This is really important_: The poll is still up and we have a tie, for those of you who haven't voted on whether Hex (a male version of Jynx) should be Erika's love interest need to go to my profile and vote. **

**Also, since a few of you have voted that I have to write Hex correctly to get it right, please tell me what that means. What do you think I should have Hex be like or do or act. If you need inspiration for suggestions I've give you part of his real name: Chaz. If you need an explanation on the name just ask.**

**~Rayner out**


End file.
